Civil Rights/Transcript
Transcript Old Version Update Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim and Moby are eating lunch in a cafeteria. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, what was the Civil Rights Movement? From P.J. The American Civil Rights Movement was about having universal rights for all people, regardless of race. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Before the 1960s, America was a very different place. An image shows two bathroom doors side by side. One reads "White," the other "Colored." TIM: In some parts of the country, African-Americans were barred from many public spaces: movie theaters, restaurants, buses and trains, all had separate areas for black and white customers. An image shows nice homes with green lawns on one side of a fence, and smaller, modest homes on dirt on the other side of the fence. TIM: African-American also had to live in separate neighborhoods, and couldn't hold the same jobs as whites. This practice of separating blacks and whites was called segregation. Segregation was widespread, touching every part of society. Even at school. MOBY: Beep. An image shows a girl with a backpack walking close to train tracks. TIM: The tide began to turn in 1951, with an African-American student named Linda Brown. She was barred from attending a school a few blocks from her home. Instead, she had to ride a bus to a black school across town. An image shows the exterior of a courthouse. TIM: So her father joined a dozen other parents and sued the school board. By 1954, the case had gone all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. It was a landmark case known as "Brown versus The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas." MOBY: Beep. TIM: It wasn't that simple. These new laws had to be enforced. And there were still lots of other laws and customs that discriminated against African-Americans. An image shows Rosa Parks sitting on a bus with a white man standing over her. TIM: In 1955, Rosa Parks took a seat on a public bus. Soon, the bus filled up, leaving no free seats for white passengers. When the driver told Parks to give up her seat, she refused, and got arrested. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, that was the rule back then in Alabama, and throughout most of the South. African-Americans had to give up their seats if any white people were standing. MOBY: Beep. An image shows Jo Ann Robinson and Martin Luther King Junior. TIM: Jo Ann Robinson, an English professor, and Doctor Martin Luther King Junior, a Baptist minister, organized a boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system. An image shows African-American people walking past an almost empty bus. TIM: Black citizens of Montgomery refused to ride on the buses for more than a year. They chose to walk rather than submit to unfair regulations. MOBY: Beep. TIM: The boycott led to a lawsuit, and in 1956, a Supreme Court decision banned segregated buses. But the fight still wasn't over. Doctor King and other brave activists organized nonviolent protests across the nation. An image shows an African-American man sitting in between white men at a counter. TIM: During sit-ins, black students visited “whites only” lunch counters. They quietly sat there until they were served, or until the store closed. Often they were harassed and arrested. An image shows inside of a bus with white and black passengers next to one another. TIM: Other protesters took "freedom rides" throughout the South. Sometimes they were integrated, with blacks and whites sitting next to each other on the same bus. Sometimes the white protesters would all ride in the back. These peaceful protests were often met with anger, and sometimes violence. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, it's hard to imagine how something like that would make people so mad. An image shows the Washington Monument, and a huge number of people gathered in front of it, some holding up signs. TIM: A high point of the Civil Rights Movement occurred on August 28, 1963. Hundreds of thousands of people marched on Washington, D.C. An image shows Martin Luther King Junior speaking in front of microphones. TIM: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom featured Doctor King delivering his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. An animation shows Doctor King facing the protestors in the March on Washington. TIM: The very next year, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed all discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or ethnicity. Public facilities could no longer be segregated, and businesses would have to make an effort to hire a more diverse workforce. MOBY: Beep. TIM: The door to racial equality had opened, but there was still a long way to go. Four images show a mug shot of an African-American woman, Doctor King speaking, Doctor King and others marching in a street, and police officers using their bats to hit African-American people that are on the ground. TIM: New laws were just the beginning. It took years of struggle before they were fully enforced. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, changing people's prejudices, that's something no law can fix. African-Americans have continued to face violence and discrimination. An image of protestors appears, with signs that read, My Life Matters, Black Lives Matter, White Silence is Violence, and Stop Police Violence. TIM: But dedicated activists are keeping the world's attention on the issue. The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement lives on in these new generations. And in other groups who have been inspired by its successes. MOBY: Beep. Four images show more protestors holding up signs for different causes. The signs read: Working Women Want Equal Pay, Good Business is Fair Business, Full Rights for Immigrants, and National March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights. TIM: Women, immigrants, gay and transgender people. These groups, and others, are still struggling to be treated with dignity. Whether it's fighting for equal pay, the freedom to live proudly and openly, or the right simply to be left in peace. If there's one thing we've learned from the Civil Rights Movement, it's that history is on their side. MOBY: Beep. Tim and Moby are in the cafeteria, surrounded by children of all colors sitting and eating their lunches. TIM: You have a dream too? Let's hear it. Moby splatters ketchup on a pretzel then crushes the ketchup bottle into the pretzel. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well that is a weird dream. Anyways, see you after school. Bye. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts